Tallon Morris and Brennan Tienharra could do no wrong on Tuesday afternoon.
Morris connected with his trusty wide receiver for three scores, including a 63-yard, third-quarter strike, leading the Sir Winston Churchill Trojans to a 28-0 triumph over the St. Patrick Saints.
It was Churchill’s first win of the season after a rough 0-2 start, and couldn’t have come at a better time, with four squads battling for second place behind the front-running St. Ignatius Falcons.
Morris, who completed 12 of 16 passes for 209 yards, said Tienharra had the uncanny ability to find open space, making him an easy target against a Saints squad that otherwise did a decent job containing the Trojan offence at Fort William Stadium.
“He was outside and after our injuries (coach) moved him inside and I guess we just clicked. Three touchdown passes is a good game,” Morris said.
Tienharra, who now has a Superior Secondary Schools Athletic Association best four touchdown receptions on the season, praised his quarterback’s vision.
“I would just line up and he would see me get past them. I’d just get the ball in my hands and go,” he said.
“I just found the end zone three times.”
Tienharra finished the day with seven catches for 116 yards and said his lengthy score was just a matter-of-face play.
“I just got the ball and got away from the player and was just gone. I wasn’t getting caught. I wasn’t going to let it happen.”
Paul Bystrican had the Trojans other major, a 61-yard rumble down the right sideline, finishing the play with a dive across the goal line as a St. Patrick defender was about to catch him from behind. He finished with 92 yards on the ground.
Tienharra said it was a game Churchill couldn’t afford to lose. An 0-3 start would have been disastrous, he added.
“It was almost a must-win game. Now we’re back into it,” he said.
The Saints just couldn’t get it going offensively, especially when it came to the passing game. St. Patrick quarterback Joey Ward had plenty of open targets, but time after time they either dropped the ball or just couldn’t settle under it in time.
Twice in the first half Ward appeared to have connected for long TD scores. On the first, Tyler Mathieu stopped his route, only to see the ball sail over his head.
On the second receiver Marc Degagne couldn’t corral another Ward pass.
The Saints, who last week edged Westgate, fell to 1-2, in a four-way tie for second-place behind St. Ignatius.
St. Ignatius 34, Hammarskjold 22: Liam Fors had a pair of 58-yard ground scores and Jake Puskas took the ball in from 15 and 64 yards to help the Falcons (4-0) remain undefeated. Keenan Postans had a pair of short touchdown runs for the Vikings (1-2).
